Music-roll punch.



No. 650,268. Patented May 22, I900.

P. NURWUOD.

MUSIC ROLL PUNCH.

(Application filed Nov. 29, 1899.) (No Model.) 3 $heetsShei I.

No. 650,268. Patented ma 'zz, I900. P. uonwoon.

MUSIC ROLL PUNCH.

(Application filed Nov. 29,1899.)

3 Sheets8heet 2.

(No Model.)

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No. 650,268. Patented May 22,900.

P. nonwoon.

MUSIC ROLL PUNCH.

(Application .filed Nov. 29, 1899.)

WITNESSES w: NORRIS FEYERS co, PHOYO-UTHO" wAsumm'aN. n. c.

UNiTEn STATES PATENT @rricis.

PAUL NORWOOD, OF .ANSONIA, CONNECTICUT.

MUSIC-ROLL PUNCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 650,268, dated May 22,1900. Application filed November 29, 1899. Serial No. 733,655. iNomodel.)

To (.tZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, PAUL NORWOOD, a citi= zen of the United States,residing at Ansonia, county of New Haven, State of Connecticut, haveinvented a new and useful. Music-Roll Punch, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention has for its object to provide a punch which will enablemusic-dealers and musicians to make their own musicrolls for use inpianolas, angelu'ses, zeolians, and other mechanical musicalinstruments, it being simply necessary in order to produce music-rollswith my novel. punch for a person having a slight knowledge of thetheory of music to place before him the score of a piece of music whichit is desired to play upon a mechanical instrument and then to punch inone or more strips of any suitable material as paper, glazed linen orcotton or thin metal the openings necessary to produce the desiredresult, music-rolls produced by my novel punch being for all practicalpurposes identical with and in some respects superior to music-rolls nowin use, and which are, moreover, so expensive to produce as to make itimpossible for musicians or even for musicdealers to prod uce them. Inorder to overcome this serious objection to the common use of mechanicalmusical instrumentst'. e., the cost of the music-rolls-and make it quitepracticable for musicians and music-dealers to produce their ownmusic-rolls, I have devised the novel music-roll punch which I willnowdescribe, referring by reference characters to the accompanyingdrawings, forming partof this specification, in which- Figure 1 is aside elevation of the machine complete; Fig. 2, a reverse side.elevation thereof; Fig. 3, a vertical section; Fig. 4, a plan View,certain parts being broken away; Fig. 5, a front elevation; Fig. 6, avertical section corresponding substantially with Fig. 3, but showing anoperating position of the parts; Fig. 7, a detail sectional view on theline '7 7 in Fig. 2, illustrating the construction of the countingdevice; and Fig. 8 is a greatly-exaggerated detail view of one of thepunch-heads and the corresponding liftingspring.

A denotes the framework, which may be of any ordinary or preferredconstruction, and B a strip of "paper or other suitable material, the

supply of material being wound on aroll 10,- the ends of which arereceived in sockets 11 in the framework. As the material of which therolls are made is not of the essence of my invention and as paper is thematerial ordinarily used, I shall refer to that material only in thisspecification. For convenience in illustration 1 have shown but onesupply-roll iii the drawings. It will be perfectly obvious, however,that a plurality'ofsupply-rolls may be used and a plurality ofmusic-rolls made at the same time by supporting a number of supply-rollson separate suitable bearingsand leading the several sheets of paperthrough the machine together or superimposed, the number depending, ofcourse, upon the material used and the strength of the machine, as.wellas upon the strength of the operator.

The paper upon roll is centered thereon and is caused to feed freely bymeans of guides 12, whose hubs 13 are adapted to slide on the rolls andare locked in place by set-screws 14:.- The strip of paper to beoperated upon passes from the supply-roll between tension-rolls l5 and16,.one of whichin the present in stance tension-roll 15--is journaledin boxes 17, which are adapted to slide in the framework and areadjusted and retained in position by means of screws 18, which passthrough a portion oftlle framework. The strip of paper next passesbetween upper and lower blocks 19 and 20.

21 denotes the punches, and 22 a bed-plate coacting therewith, thebed-plate being rigidly secured to block and the punches being adaptedto slide in openings through guide-plates 23, which are rigidly securedto block 19. The punches are provided with heads 24, having recesses 25,which are engaged by springs 26, the action of which is to retain thepunches at the raised position. These springs may be independent, ifpreferred, or may all be formed from asingle plate of metal having aback 27 ,by which'said plate and the entire set of springs are securedto a cross-piece 29 by means of screws 28. The number of punches andsprings corresponds with the greatest number of notes in the compass ofany instrument forwhich music-rolls are to be made.

30 denotes a series of pivoted punch-se tion.

punches. These selectors I have shown as bell-crank levers in shape,although that is by no means an essential feature of construc- It isessential, however, to the simplicity of my machine and the ease withwhich it is utilized for the purpose described that the selectors shallbe pivoted and eachhave an integral arm adapted to be laid on or removed from contact with the head of its respective punch 21, andpreferably another arm by means of which the selector may be wheniout ofoperative position on a cross-rod" 32.". InFig. '5 the punch-selectorsare all shown 4 as out o'f operative position, and in Figs. 3, 4,

and 6 theyareshown as partlyin and partlyout of'operati've position, asduring the operation of making a music-roll. These selectors lie normanyout of operative position-that is, out

' Ofen'gag'ement with the punches and resting on c'ross rod32. They areretained in alinement by means of sleeves 39 on cross-rod 31-,- whichlie between the end selectors and the framework and are placed inoperative position by simply turning them on rod 31 and placing them inengagementwith the heads of the punches. In practice thesepunch-sespond-with the notes it 'is'required to producethat is, they maybe marked. to correspend with the letters of the m usical scale or aportionof them may be made white and a portion black to correspondwith.;-the white and black notes of the keyboard of a musical'instrument. The punch-selectorsthat may be in operative position atanytime are op'erated and caused'to actuate the corredown thecorresponding punches, as will be more fully explained. Theoperating-rod is retained at its normal or inoperative position by meansof a spring 37, one end ofwhich is attached to the framework and theother to apin 38, extending from the hub of hand-1e- The strip of paperis drawn from the sup ply-roll through the tension-rolls and underthe'punches by means of feed-rolls 42 and 43,.

one'ot which-in the present instance feedroll 43is jo'urnaledjn boxes44, whichare movable in the framework and are locked in position afteradjustment by means of screws ing the counting-disk.

45. The music-roll as completed is wound upon a roll '46, journaled insockets 47. in the framework. This winding-roll is provided with guides12, whose hubs 13 are locked to the roll by means of set-screws 14 inthe same manner as the guides upon the supply-roll. The winding-roll maybe operated in anysuitable manner, as by a weight (not shown) attachedto a cord 48, which passes over a pul ley 49 on the end of thewinding-roll, the latter passing through the sockets and extendingoutward from-the framework. Feed-roll 43 receives motion from feed-roll42 by means of gear-wheels 50 on said rolls outside of the framework.Feed-roll 42 is driven by means of a pawl 5l,engagi'ng a ratchet-wheel52,fixed to said roll, said pawlbeing carried by a handlever 53, whichisadapted to oscillate on the same axis as that of the roll.

'54 denotes a spring whose action is to retain the pawl in engagementwith the teeth of the ratchet, and a spring whose action.

is to retain hand-lever 53 in the retracted position, said hand-leverbeing stopped in its retracted position in any suitable manner, as

. by engagement with the end of the rock-shat t,

(see Fig. 2,) and at the other extreme of its movement by engagementwith cross-rod 31,

which' extends through and slightly beyond the framework. leetorsm'ay bemarked in any way to 'corre- ;of a punch have been made in a measure orin punching a long note, I have provided a counting-disk 57, carrying apointer 58, which operates in connection with the ratchet-wheel.

The counting-disk is free to be turned on the hub 59 oftheratchet-wheel, but is held in :any position in whichit may be placed,so as Tto normally turn with the ratchet-wheel, by

means of a friction-washer 60, carried bythe reduced end of the drivingfeed-roll.

61is a handpiece for-convenience in turn- In practice graduationsareconveniently placed for counting. For example, in Fig. 4 I haveshown'graduat-ions upon the periphery of the counting=disk,

these graduations being in practice provided In starting withcorresponding numerals. upon ameasure or upon a note the countingdisk isturned by means of the handpiece and the pointer is caused to registerwith the tooth 'of actuations of the feed-ratchet since the pointer wasset-2 e., the number of punches made in a measure or in punching a note.As

soon as the measure or; note is finished the counting-disk is oscillatedagain by means of the handpiece to cause the pointer to again registerwith the tooth of the ratchet-wheel which is engaged by the pawl, itbeing understood that while the friction-washer holds the counting-diskfirmly in position. and pre screws 64. For the narrowest width of musi'crolls the collars are set upclose to the ends of the rolls proper.the collars are moved outward away from the ends of the rolls proper, asin Fig. 4, the collars jbeing adjusted in each instance so that theedges of the strip of paper will rest upon reduced portions 63 andagainst the shoulders at theends of said reduced portions. Thecorresponding roll in each pair is made short enough to lie between thecollars at their closest adjustm nt a For wider music-rolls example, inproducing a'legato efiect a note may be suspended for two punches andthen resumed without losing continuous effect. In order to produce astaccato effect, there must be an actual space-that is, solidpaper-between the notes. This efiect may be produced by simply using oneor two only of the allotted number of punches to each note or by robbingeach note of one or more punches, thus stopping a given tone before thesounding of the succeeding tone. of round punchesfor producing theopenings in m usic-rolls enables a skilled musician to change theeffects to an almost unlimited extent,as his fancy may suggest-in fact,to

produce almost all of the effects in interpreting a composition thatcould be produced on a non-mechanical instrument,efieets, in brief,which cannot possibly be produced on mechanical instruments by anymusician, no matter how skilled, using ordinary, musicrolls. It is, as amatter of fact, impossibleas music-rolls are ordinarilyproduced tosecure the effects which I produce with music-rolls The operation is asfollows: The punches mayof course be of any required diameter; but formaking music-rolls for the ordinary mechanical musical instruments i.e., pianolas, angeluses, and aeolians-as at present made they areone-tenth of an inch in diame ter. The necessary feeding movement mustbeone-half the diameter of the punches; otherwise it would be impossibleto produce music-rolls that would cause one key to be released at theinstant another was depressed, as is necessary in order to produce alegato effect in rendering a piece of music. The number of teeth,therefore, in the feed-ratchet must correspond with the number oftwentieths of an inch in the periphery of the driving feed-roll. Thenote of least value in a piece, of music is taken as the unit and may beproducedby one oranynn mber of punches, but preferably by one punch. Forexample, taking a sixty-fourth note as the unit and allowing one punchfor each sixty-fourth note, a thirty-second note would require twopunches, a'sixteenth note four punches, an eighth note eight punches,aquarte r-note sixteen punches, a half-note thirty-two punches, and awhole note sixty-four punches. For a moderatelyfast piece, in which athirty-second note was the note of least value, a whole note'might bemade by thirty-two punches,and in a very fast pieee,in which no notes ofless value than a sixteenth note would be required, the whole notesmight be made by sixteen punches. It will of course be understood thatin music-rolls made by my novel punch the continuous openings for longnotes will not be straightsided, but will clearly indicate thatthey arecut by successive operations of a round punch. These made by my novelpunch. Should a mistake be made in punching, the operator placestissuepaper over the portion of the strip which has beenincorrectlypunched and then, starting at the end of the correct portion, punches itover again.

The mechanical act of punching the openings will be readily understoodfromthe description already given. In starting a measure the operatorplaces all of the punch-selec-;

tors corresponding with notes to be sounded in operative position andthen. manipulates the operating-rod by means of the rock-shaft andhandlever. After each actuation of punches and their return to theirnormal elevated positions, the hand-lever 53 isoperated to actuate thefeed.

longer are turned out of operative. position In fact, the'use.

Then the selectors corre-, sponding to notes not required to be soundedand selectors corresponding to new notes that are required to be soundedare turned into; The operation of the counting-disk has already beenfully de operative position.

scribed. Its use will be apparent when itlis taken into considerationthat sixty-four or even more actuations of a punch may be required topunch an opening in the strip thatwill cause the instrument upon whichthe.

completed roll is used to produce a whole note.

It is of course of no consequence so far as the operation of the machineis concerned how actuation of the operating-rod.

the operator know the value of notes, that he watch the count made bythe counting.

disk, and that he have the very slight technical skill required to placeselectors outof operative posit-ion when the punches corre spondingtherewith have given to the notes their full valueand to place newselectors in I I v eases operative position the instant new notes arerequiredto be sounded. In brief, then, any person skilled or unskilledas a musician can produce musicgrolls that are approximately correct bymeans of my novel machine and without the use of a previously-preparedpat- Having thus described my invention, I

1, In a device of the character described the- -'combination"with aseries of punches, guides therefor, a bed-plateaud springs for holdingthe punches in the raised position, of a series of pivotedpunch-selectors corresponding with the punches and adapted to be movedinto and outof engagement with the punches, and free to be leftindefinitely in either position, an operating-rod adapted to engage saidse lectors when inoperative position and means for actuating theoperating-rod whereby the punches corresponding to the selectors inoperative position are caused to act.

' 2. In a device of the character described the combination with aseries of punches, of a corresponding series of pivoted punch-selectorsadapted to be moved into and out of engage-- ment with the punchesandfree to be left indefinitelyin either position, and means forsimultaneously actuating the selectors when in operative positionwhereby the corresponding punches are caused to act..

- 3. In adevice of the character described the combination with a seriesof punches,of a cor res ending series of pivoted punch-selectors, eacfree to.remain in either one of two positio'ns, means for simultaneouslyaotuatin g the selectors when in operative position, and feeda ingmechanism whereby the strip to be acted upon is drawn under the puncheswith uniform act-nations.

4. In a device of the character described the combination with a seriesof punches, a series of pivoted punch-selectors corresponding therewith,each of said selectors being free'to remain in operative or inoperativeposition,

and means for actuating said selectors when in operative position, offeed-rolls geared together and a pawl-ratchet and 'hand-leverfor'actuating one of said feed-rolls.

5; In a device of the character described the combination with a seriesof punches onetenth ofan inch in diameter, corresponding pivotedpunch-selectors, each free to remain in either one of two positions, andmeans for simultaneously actuating the operatin g-sel'ec- "periphery ofthe operative feed-roll so that the strip to be acted "upon will bemoved a distance corresponding to'one-half the diameter of the punchesat each actuation of the feedratchet. a

6. In adevice of the characterdescri-bedthe combination with a series ofround punches, of a corresponding series of pivoted punchselectorsadapted to be placed into and out of engagement with the punches, meansfor simultaneously actuatingthe selectors in operative position, andfeeding mechanism which carries the strip forward at each actuation adistance corresponding to one-half the diame ter'of the punches, each ofsaid selectors bein g free to remain in operative or inoperativeposition. I r p 7. In a device of the character described thecombination with-the p'unches,'pivoted punch= selectors andoperating-rod, of a feed-ratchet, ha-nd-le'veran'd pawl,'a'counting-disk adapted to be rotated independently of the feed=ratchet and a friction-washer engaging the counting-disk whereby thelatter is-normally caused to rotate with thefeed=ratchet.

8. In a-d'evice of the character described the combination with'thepunches,pivoted punch= selectors and operating-rod, of a feed-ratchet,

lever and pawl, a counting=disk adapted to rotate on the hub of the feedratchet and carrying a pointer, and a friction-washer carried by theshaft and engaging the counting-disk so that the latter isnormallycaused to rotate with the feed-ratchet but may be turned back tocause the pointer -to register with the pawl after the completion of ameasure or note.

9. r In a device of the character described the combination with aseries of punches, of a series of pivoted punch-selectors correspondingtherewith and adapted to betilted out of engagement. with the punchesand to remain so indefinitely, and 'means for simultaneously actuatingthe selectors when in engagement with punches. j v

'10. In a device of the'character described the combination witha seriesof punches having heads 24 and recesses '25 formed in said heads, ofindependent springs adapted to engage said recesses to retain thepunches at .the raised position, pivoted punch-selectors adapted toengage heads 24 and to be thrown out of engagement andleft so, and anoperating-rod which is adapted to engage. simultaneously all selectorsin engagement with punches whereby said punches are operated.

11. In a device of the characterdescribed the-combination with a seriesof punches and independent springs therefor, of a series of bellcrank'pivoted punch-selectors adapted to engage the punches, a rest for saidselectors when out 'of operative position, and means for simultaneouslyactuating the selectorsin operative position, each of saidselectors be-:ing free to remain in opera'tiveor inoperative position. I

12. In a device of the characterdescribed the combination with a seriesof punches, a

corresponding series of pivoted punch -.selectors adapted to engage ordisengage the punches and to remain in either of such positions, and anoperating-rod adapted to engage the selectors in engagement withpunches, of feeding mechanism which, at each actuation, carries thestrip being acted upon forward a distance equal to one-half the diameterof the punches.

13. In a device of the character described the combination witha seriesof punches, corresponding pivoted punchselectors, and an operating-rodadapted to engage selectors in operative position, of feeding mechanismfor the strip to be acted upon and a pointer and counting-disk,substantially as described and shown, for indicating punches made in ameasure or upon a note.

14. In a device of the character described responding pivotedpunch-selectors, each free to remain in either one of two positions, andan operating-rod adapted to engage selectors that are in operativeposition, of feeding mechanism for the strip to be acted upon and awinding-roll for the completed music-roll.

PAUL NORWOOD.

Witnesses:

FRED. M. DREW, CHAS. E. REMER.

